A conversation with Brock Pierce: Cryptocurrency pioneer, philanthropist, and friend of Israel

Last year, I had the opportunity to meet and befriend Brock Pierce at an Israel conference at Gotham Hall in New York City. Pierce is a blockchain pioneer, impact investor, and philanthropist with an extensive track record of founding, advising, and investing in disruptive [innovative] businesses. He’s been credited with pioneering the market for digital currency and has raised more than $5 billion for companies he has founded.

Pierce is chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation and co-founder of EOS Alliance, Block.one, Blockchain Capital, Tether, Mastercoin (first ICO), and Lighthouse NFT, the first ground-up physical NFT smart gallery. In 2020, Pierce ran for president of the United States as an independent, receiving the first-ever US presidential vote cast on the blockchain. Block.one was co-founded by Pierce in 2017 and has sold over $4 billion tokens in the EOS crowd sale, making it the largest ever.

Blockchain Capital was founded in 2013 and is the first sector-focused venture fund that invests solely in Blockchain technology companies. Pierce led the firm through the first ICO of a venture fund, which created the first security token, BCAP. Blockchain Capital has made more than 100 investments in the sector across its four funds. The firm was named the most active FinTech Venture Fund by Pitchbook. Tether, the first stable coin and asset-backed token, is the most traded cryptocurrency by volume. Pierce is an early investor in Bitcoin and one of the largest investors in the Ethereum crowd sale. He is the founder of IMI Exchange, the world’s leading digital currency marketplace for games, with annual sales exceeding $1B and investors such as Goldman Sachs (sold in 2016 for more than $100 million).Pierce founded ZAM, one of the world’s largest media properties for gamers, which was acquired by Tencent in 2012. He founded IGE, the pioneer of digital currency and virtual assets in online games, achieving revenues exceeding $100 million in 2006 and sold in 2007. Pierce is also a co-founder of D10e, GoCoin, the first cryptocurrency platform for a political campaign, Blade Payments, Five Delta (sold NASDAQ: SRAX), Xfire 2.0, Playsino, Evertune, and GamesTV. He serves as an adviser to a number of companies, such as Airswap, Bancor, BitGo, BitGuild, and BlockV, the first NFT platform in the world. He is a general partner in Space Fund and sits on the board of directors for Bitdigital, one of the largest cryptocurrency mining companies in the US.

He is also an active supporter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU); the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education; the Center for Individual Rights; and the Brennan Center for Human Rights. Pierce is chairman of the Integro Foundation, a Puerto Rico-based nonprofit focused on helping Puerto Ricans and supporting environmental and humanitarian efforts throughout the Caribbean region. As co-founder of the United Council of Rising Nations, Pierce advises political and industry leaders around the world on the future of finance, technology, and sustainable development.

Right after the October 7 Hamas attacks, Pierce visited Israel (where he has traveled extensively). In an emotional post on Instagram, he wrote: “On my visit to Israel, I witnessed the horrors of terrorism by Hamas. I condemn all acts of terrorism. No one should have to live under the ongoing threat of terror. I stand in solidarity with the people of Israel and remember the innocent victims who lost their lives on October 7.”

Whether it be attending the March of the Living, meeting Holocaust survivors, or being a dear friend of the nation of Israel, Brock Pierce has shown time and again his steadfast commitment to his friends in the Jewish community. I had the opportunity to speak to Pierce on his recent visit to New York about his unique life story and perspectives on the cryptocurrency and Bitcoin industry in the ever-changing world of technology.

You were one of the first people to see the potential of the crypto industry from the very beginning. What made you see the vast opportunity of this sector and what it has become today?

I originally got into digital currency in the 1990s, in which my main businesses were making the markets, running the exchanges, doing the production line with 400,000 people (principally in China), and mining digital currencies prior to Bitcoin. The Bitcoin Whitepaper came out on October 31, 2008, and Bitcoin launched on January 3, 2009 (Wired magazine called me the godfather of digital money in December of 2008), so I predated this, and it was prior to the launch of Bitcoin. For me (seeing how digital currency had become so important to the virtual world and metaverse), it was very logical that these same concepts could be brought to the analog world, in which the architecture of Bitcoin and its decentralization really enabled that and made it possible. Once it had reached a critical mass of adoption in 2012 and 2013, it was no longer a matter of if but when, and the time was now. That is when I really dedicated most of my time and life to this important development.

How do you see Israel come into play in the hi-tech sector with Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency industry?

Israel has been a leader in innovation as the Start-Up Nation for a long time, whether it be in cybersecurity, tech, or innovation, so it’s only a natural and logical fit that Israel should be a market participant and similar to the United States. As US policy on this evolves, I would imagine that we are going to see something happen with Israel as well.

We have recently seen that President-elect Trump is taking great steps in promoting a cryptocurrency. What are your thoughts on this?

I was the first presidential candidate to actually advocate for this (when I ran in 2020), but what I have been saying over the years is that everyone should watch this sector (which truly is the future of finance), in which it will become more and more relevant in our political system. We have seen that with leaders such as President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador, and we are seeing that with other nations around the world that have been embracing innovation as a tool for transformation. Whether it be the mayor of NYC, the mayor of Miami, the House of Representatives in the Senate, or RFK Jr. (who originally ran on the ticket as an independent), we have been seeing it in numerous areas. One of the things that people were not ready for was seeing one of the presidential candidates from the main two political parties making this a core policy in their platform, and that is what we have seen with Trump. (Even though it wasn’t mentioned in the debates, Trump has clearly made this part of his platform, and for good reason.) Trump is generally pro-innovation once he understands something. He has demonstrated that he can learn technology and has proven so in terms of his social media abilities. We currently represent 52 million Americans who hold digital assets. As a group around the world, we are sitting on $2 trillion of wealth. So 52 million Americans are sitting on $2 trillion worth of wealth globally, thus it only makes sense to note that we are a constituency that matters (we are single-issue voters in most instances), and what we care about most is the future. What’s unusual is that if you study the crypto community, it leans Left a little more than Right (it’s about a third, a third, and a third, but a little more Left leaning). This is a big voter bloc that both sides should be paying attention to, and it seems that the Democratic Party is not paying close attention to it at all. (Harris did end up having a meeting about it immediately following Trump’s participation in the Bitcoin conference in Tennessee, but it hasn’t really changed things.) I was asked during the election what the Democrats should do if they want to win over this voter bloc, and I conveyed that Harris has one simple move and that is to say that she is going to fire Gary Gensler immediately or on day one. That’s what the crypto community would want to see immediately. Her administration and their commissioner of the SEC is considered to be public enemy number one of the future.

What would you say to someone who has never invested in cryptocurrency and Bitcoin and may be skeptical because of bad apples in the industry and have them see the benefits that you have been preaching since 2007?

I would advise potential investors to stop relying on sensational headlines that are promoting fear and only negativity because if that’s the only information you rely on to make your decisions, then naturally you are going to be influenced to form a negative opinion (52 million Americans can’t all be wrong). Companies that invest in this industry include JP Morgan; Blackrock and its CEO Larry Fink; Fidelity; Franklin Templeton; academia; leading venture capitalists (and the list goes on), and they can’t all be wrong. Don’t allow a bad actor to spoil it for everyone, and know that all emerging technologies have this as being part of the process and part of the growing pains. Hopefully, you (as an investor) can have the insight to realize that you shouldn’t be making decisions regarding your future solely on negative headlines, and be wise enough to say that there must be something going on here if big institutions around the world are saying that this is an important technology. Think for yourself. And if you really want to learn, go buy for yourself 10, 20, 50, or 100 dollars’ worth – not as a financial investment but as an investment in your own knowledge and education. It might be the best 20 dollars you ever spent.

What is your vision 10 or 20 years ahead regarding the future outlook of cryptocurrency?

We are looking at a very different world, and it’s not just the crypto industry. Whether it be artificial intelligence, robotics, or cryptocurrency, the world that we are going to be living in will look different than the one today, and the earlier that you come to that realization and invest a little bit of your time in playing around with these things (like downloading ChatGPT, for example), you will see what it can do for you. And that starts with buying your first $20 of Bitcoin. The world is changing rapidly, and it’s worth a small investment of your time and a tiny investment of your money to prepare yourself for the future. And if not you, then ask your kids, and at least make sure they are ready. That is the advice I would give. ■

The writer is a financial adviser who resides in New York City and is involved in Israel-based and Jewish advocacy organizations.